DETROIT Teammates are running out of fresh adjectives to describe Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk. Amazing and dazzling are the standard-bearers, along with comments about how Datsyuk does what he does all the time.

He’s the team’s artist in residence. Where Nicklas Lidstrom soothes with his poise, Datsyuk scintillates with his proficiency. His mastery with the puck has helped the Wings win two straight games against the Sharks, has pushed the Wings from being swept to within 3-2 entering Tuesday night’s Game 6 at Joe Louis Arena.

Datsyuk set up three goals Sunday, including the winner, when he stole the puck off Patrick Marleau, held onto it when Marleau attempted a check and then fed Lidstrom, whose shot was tipped by Tomas Holmstrom. That prompted Versus analyst and former Shark Jeremy Roenick to call Marleau gutless, and Datsyuk’s teammates to call him great, for something like the millionth time.

All the more remarkable, Datsyuk did what he did Sunday while playing with a sore enough wrist that he couldn’t take faceoffs.

“It’s interesting when you watch the playoffs,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said after Sunday’s 4-3 victory at the HP Pavilion, “there’s lots of nice players during the regular season, and they’ve got good skill level and all that, but if you don’t got a drive train, if you don’t compete at the highest level, you can’t win at this time of year.

“It’s about digging in and winning the simple little battles, and that’s what Pavel has.”

For the Wings to advance, they need more players to demonstrate that drive. Danny Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi are hard for the Sharks to handle when they’re really skating. Valtteri Filppula was more effective in the third period Sunday than most of the series. It’s not a coincidence that the winning streak has been built as the Wings have gotten scoring from multiple sources.

“That’s the key,” Cleary said. “You have to get contributions throughout the lineup, different guys each night. I think that’s a big reason why we’ve gotten two wins so far.”

The Wings know they’re only halfway to becoming the fourth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 deficit. Besides raving about Datsyuk and the goaltending of Jimmy Howard after Sunday’s game, it’s all anyone talked about.

“Every game you win,” Niklas Kronwall said, “makes you feel a little bit better, but we know we haven’t done anything yet. We have to focus on what we need to do. We didn’t play well enough the first two periods. That’s something we want to look after.

“We feel good, but at the same time, we’ve been put in a position: Either you win, or you’re going home for the season. It’s as simple as that. It’s basically like playing Game 7 every game now.”

Cleary said the Sharks are still in the driver’s seat. But the Wings are peering over their shoulders, reaching for the steering wheel. They see this series within their grasp. They believe they should have won Game 3, in which case they’d be the team in the lead. They believe they can make it 3-3 tonight, and they believe they can win on the road, because they’ve done so often enough.

“We’re not a team that’s going to give up,” Lidstrom said. “We’re going to keep battling until it’s over. (ASTERISK) We’ve got some momentum now, but we have to continue to play the way we did in the third period.”

It is easier to do that when one of the players on the ice is an average-size Russian with outsized talent. At this point, teammates have seen the way Datsyuk can dominate so often they just shake their heads and search for words.

“Listen,” Cleary said, “what can you say about the guy? He’s amazing.”